An effort begun almost four years ago to renovate a historic building in Tecumseh may soon bear fruit.

A recent $50,000 anonymous donation is helping the Tecumseh Carnegie Preservation League work toward renovating the former library and board of education office and putting it back in use. So far, the group has raised about $320,000 to restore the historic building.

Because of the donations, sometime this year a series of artists’ studios could be filling the main floor of the Carnegie Library Building at the corner of West Chicago Boulevard and South Maiden Lane in Tecumseh. Paula Holtz, Tecumseh economic development director, said this week that the main floor of the building will be finished and readied for occupancy later this year. Some people have expressed an interest in renting space, she said.

“We are getting cost estimates for renovations to make the first floor habitable,” Holtz said. “We hope to get started on the work this spring. The idea is to get income coming in as quickly as possible.”

Roof repairs, upgrades to the gutters and a great deal of renovation and repair have been done both inside and outside the building. Holtz and Mayor Dick Johnson, who heads the Preservation League, said much of the work in the basement consisted of removing mold, repairing the foundation and installing a high-efficiency furnace with duct work.

“The main floor would be leased as individual artist space,” Holtz said. “It will have seven units, with a bathroom and a commons gallery. Phase two would include finishing the basement. This new effort breathes new life into the project.”

The mayor said he was thrilled with the anonymous donation. He helped form the Tecumseh Carnegie Preservation League with the goal of restoring the building. “The queen of all buildings in town,” as Johnson has called it, was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.